The 5 stages to video editing

Editing is where all the magic happens. Which is why it’s important to have a structured process to get the most out of your time so you're not going back to make unnecessary changes. This can help in a number of ways from organization, pacing, and workflow. So we broke it down into 5 stages but keep in mind this can be a loose structure that you can tailor to your workflow and editing style.

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1. LOGGING

The first step is one of the most important. This is when you take the time to ingest, transcode, create proxy files, and backup footage. Then the editor sits back and goes through all the video and starts logging, organizing, and cutting out all the unsable clips to organize them into bins, and label them. This way when you're editing and searching for a specific clip from a scene you can find it instantly instead of spending 20 minutes going through hours of video.

2. FIRST ASSEMBLY / RADIO EDIT

Once the editor has reviewed all the footage they start the first assembly or radio edit. The assembly edit is when the editor looks through all of the footage and creates a story outline as a guide for the rough cut. Oftentimes footage is shot in one order but the assembly would flow better in another. Learn to recognize when to rearrange, when to add, and when to cut. A radio edit is when you lay out the audio first to see if the story makes sense. If you can tell the story using just audio, everything else will fall into place.

3. ROUGH CUt

Okay, now it gets real. This is when you wake up your movie-making mind of yours and start cutting down the crazy long first assembly to make a more neat and tidy draft. This means going through some pretty tough decisions on deciding what to cut, and what to keep. Once you're done with the rough cut this is when you show the client or director and hope they love it. This is a very important step in the editing process because it allows for revisions and new ideas to be tried and tested. Afterwards there will be no more structural changes to the edit and you can proceed to the fine cut.

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4. FINE CUT

The fine cut! This is when you no longer focus on the entire film and more on the nitty gritty details. So you may want to get your microscopic goggles out and pay serious attention to every aspect of the edit from cuts, transitions, text animations, etc. If there are any blemishes, the fine cut is the time to catch them and make any final changes to the timeline.

5. FINAL CUT

Once the fine cut is approved by all parties and finalized this is when a little movie magic gets sprinkled in. This is when the editor steps back and lets all the color correction, sound design and special effects take place. You always save this step for last so if a clip gets cut there was no time spent on audio and color correction.

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SUMMARY

Whether you’re a one man band or a post production team you can always apply the 5 stages to the editing process. Take this as a loose structure and tailor it specifically to your team and workflow and find the editing process that works best for you.